The easy way

I confess it drives me a little crazy to watch someone scroll up and down through a zillion photos or files or programs looking for something. There are more efficient ways to find what you’re looking for. Here are two examples.

 

When I remove malicious software and unwanted programs from a computer, I use several utilities that find and disable most of the bad stuff. But once they’ve had a crack at the malware, I still have to check the list of installed programs to forensically uninstall the remaining bits. Several customers expressed amazement when they watched me sort the installed programs by date so I could more easily track down the usual suspects.

It’s very easy to sort your programs by Name (which is the way they usually appear), the date they were installed, the date they were last used, and more. You can do this in Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and even in Vista, the forgotten operating system.

• First you need to open Control Panel. In Windows 7/Vista, click on Start | Control Panel. In Windows 8 or 8.1, press the Windows key and the X, then select Control Panel.
• Click on Programs – Uninstall a program
• Display the results in Detail view
• Across the top of the list of programs, you’ll see column headers, including Name, Size, Installed on, and Publisher. (If you don’t see all those, just right click on any of the headers and choose what you want from the resulting list.)
• If you choose “Installed On” you’ll get a calendar that will help get the results you want

I usually click on “Installed On” and then “Last week” or whatever is close to the time a customer started having problems. I also use “Publisher” column sort to look for programs from known malware purveyors like Conduit.

You can also use the “More…” choice to give you a column called “Last Used On” if you’re trying to uninstall things you don’t often use!

Once you’ve displayed the headers you want, click on any header to sort the results that way. If you click on that header again, it will sort your results “upside down.” For instance, if you’re looking for a program that starts with a W or a Z, click on Program twice, and you’ll get your results in reverse alphabetical order so you don’t have to scroll down.

 

Hard drives are huge in comparison to years ago. Now we can really load them up with lots of pictures, letters, videos, tunes, and what have you! Finding that one thing you need can be frustrating if your approach to doing that involves just scrolling up and down through dozens or hundreds of files and folders.

Windows includes a powerful search function. Just look at the top of any Explorer window in any modern version of Windows. Type your search term in there and see if Windows can find your file. You can change how Windows Search works to make it even more useful. Here’s how to do it in Windows 7: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/change-advanced-indexing-options.

There are many alternatives to the built in search. Not many of them do what they say they will. Two of the best I’ve found are Everything, available here: http://www.voidtools.com/, and Search My Files, here: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/search_my_files.html. Both tools are free and fast, and both offer a more robust search experience without having to go through all the indexing required by Windows native search. SearchMyFiles is an excellent tool for finding duplicate files.

Both tools work on Windows versions from XP to Windows 8. I have not tested Search My Files on Windows 8.1, but I have had no problems with Everything on 8.1

 

What tips do you have more making things a little easier? Email your tips to [email protected] and I’ll share them in the column.

 

Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or business computer get along!

Cate Eales runs Computer Care Kelowna (http://computercarekelowna.com/) a mobile service helping home users and businesses get along with their computers. To arrange an appointment phone her at 250-764-7043. Cate also welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send email to [email protected].

You can read previous columns here: http://rlis.com/column.htm . If you'd like to subscribe to this column by email, please visit this link: http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=20618 . It's easy, and free. If you'd prefer the RSS Feed, click here: http://rlis.com/rlis.xml.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.